Directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy and Ben Whishaw is an action adventure based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s best-selling book about the dramatic true journey of the Essex.

In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance.

The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story.

In the Heart of the Sea reveals the encounter’s harrowing aftermath, as the ship’s surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive.

Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.

Hemsworth as the vessel’s veteran first mate Owen Chase opposite Benjamin Walker as its inexperienced captain, Cillian Murphy as second mate Matthew Joy and Ben Whishaw as novelist Herman Melville, whose inquiries into the event 30 years later helped bring the story to light.

Tom Holland also stars as young seaman Tom Nickerson, and Brendan Gleeson as the same man, 30 years later. Spanish actor Jordi Mollà is the captain of another ship, the Archimedes, who tries to warn the Essex of what may lie ahead.

In the Heart of the Sea will be released in UK cinemas on 26 December 2015.